Lesson Learned
by daisyscrapper
Summary: Dr. Keller secretly is dating someone, making Evan Lorne crazy with worry. One-shot, fluff. Characters: Keller, Sheppard, Lorne, Ronon, and some of McKay. Complete.


_Okay, folks. Let me warn you. It's fluffy. It's kinda cheesy. But I decided to publish it since I'm struggling with a few stories I'm working on and it wouldn't get out of my head. It's my first one-shot as well, so I'm not too confident about it. Anyways, hope you enjoy the idea behind it :)  
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"What do you mean, you have a date tonight?" Evan starred at Jennifer in disbelief.

"A date, Lorne." She squeezed past him to finish up the last of her duties before ending her shift. "You should try it some time."

He looked around the infirmary. "Is it with a doctor?"

"God, no," she replied, glancing back at him. "They're all twice my age."

He growled in frustration. "Military then?" He waited for her to confirm it with a nod. "Doc, I told you to that most of those guys are idiots when it comes down to women. You should've ran the name by me first. Or at least Sheppard."

Jennifer stopped and smacked him. "Hey, just because we bonded on a few off-world missions doesn't mean I give you permission to screen my boyfriends."

"Boyfriend?" Evan frowned. "Exactly how long has this been going on?"

She shrugged out of her uniform jacket and smirked at Evan. "Two weeks."

"Two weeks?" He exploded. A few nurses turned to his direction. "Well, it ends tonight. You either tell me who it is or you're not going on any date tonight."

Giving him only a look that she could pull off, she silenced him. "Butt out, major. Atlantis isn't exactly relationship friendly and this guy makes me happy."

They walked out of the infirmary together. Jennifer had a spring in her step, anxious to clean up before her date. Evan clearly was agitated, walking next to her and scowling.

"Evan, stop." She pulled him into a corner. "You're acting like an overprotective father. Can you just trust me on this?"

"Trust you?" He rolled his eyes. "Yes, I trust you but not him. But I don't understand why you can't just tell me who it is. I know everyone on base."

She shook her head. "No. We want some time to ourselves before going public about it. It's hard enough to start a relationship in this city without all of the talk that goes along with it."

They rounded the corner and stopped when they got to her quarters.

Evan looked up, hopeful. "Hey, how about we double tonight then? And I promise I won't tell anyone who it is."

Snorting, she entered her code to her room. "I don't think so." She turned and sent him a smirk before moving to close the door. "Have a good night, Lorne. I know I will."

"Keller, I swear-" But he was cut off by her closing door. Swearing, he turned to make his way to the mess hall.

* * *

John watched his second in command come through the mess hall doors. The man looked preoccupied and incredibly frustrated. Evan grabbed a tray, stabbed the tongs into the salad bowl and threw lettuce haphazardly onto his tray. Dumping a few pieces of chicken onto the pile, he turned to sit across from John at the table.

"Major?" John looked around. "What's going on with you?"

Evan rolled his eyes. "Keller's got a boyfriend."

Amused, John sat and watched Evan continue his attack on the lettuce. He knew full well the major didn't have a thing for Jennifer but felt a need to protect her. _This would be interesting new territory. _"And that's a problem because..."

"It's a problem because she won't tell me who it is," Evan looked for sympathy from John. "Sheppard, you see the guys that come through that gate. It doesn't bother you that one of them is dating our doc? I mean, come on, she's had little to no experience with men. She's going to fall for every line in the book.

Sheppard snorted. "Give it up, Lorne. Doc's a big girl now. She can handle it." He gave the major a wave as he made his way to his quarters, setting up the room for his own date.

* * *

John opened the door and grinned. Yanking her into the room and shutting the door, he gathered Jennifer into his arms.

"It's about time you got here," he said as her arms wrapped around his waist.

"Hey, I had to make sure your SIC wasn't on my trail. He's not happy about this mysterious man I'm dating," she murmured into his chest, fully enjoying herself now that she was in his arms. "I was tempted just to tell him today to get him off my case."

"Nah, let him sweat it out," John murmured, pulling her chin up so he could look at her. "Besides, I like having you all to myself for now."

When John's lips bent down to gently brush against her own, she felt the electricity of his kiss run up and down her spine. Sighing, she gripped his shirt and pulled him closer, deepening the kiss. When they finally came up for air, John led her to his bed where he had a movie on a lap top set up for them to watch.

"I have a surprise for you," he said, reaching over to a paper bag on the floor. He pulled out a bag of white cheddar popcorn, which she had mentioned missing from home during their last movie.

"Yes!" She squealed, grabbing the bag and opening it. John laughed as she began eating it immediately while he loaded up the movie. They sat next to each other with their heads sharing a pillow. Occasionally he would lean over and steal a kiss on her cheek or head, prompting her to return the favor. When she finally abandoned the bag, he teased her when it was half gone.

"Can you still see?" He asked, wrapping his arm around her shoulders so she could rest her head on his chest.

"Hmmm... yes, but this is even better," she sighed.

Half way through the movie, John was forced to admit that he was totally lost on the plot and completely smitten by the woman laying next to him. The last two weeks had been a gradual process of admitting they had an attraction to one another to figuring out how to have a relationship on Atlantis. They'd sorted through most of the typical and some of the non-typical relationship items but had yet to tell anyone about being a couple yet.

When a loud knock sounded at the door, Jennifer sat up straight and looked down at John. "What should we do?" She whispered at him.

He shrugged. "Who is it?" he yelled out.

"It's Lorne." Groaning, Jennifer stood up and frantically looked for a hiding spot.

"Just get down on the other side of the bed on the floor. He won't see you," John said, waiting until she was out of sight to answer the door. He shoved the lap top under the bed and hid the popcorn. Satisfied she was clear, he opened the door. "Major, what's up?"

John was surprised when Evan flew past him without waiting for an invitation to come in. Not knowing what to do, he shut the door and prayed the major wasn't planning on staying long.

"John, I overheard her talking to Marie in the hallway," Evan started, only to be interrupted by John.

"Seriously, Lorne, you have got to get a life," John said.

"No, wait to you hear. I guess our sweet little doctor is planning on meeting this guy in his room tonight for a movie. Seriously, Sheppard, what red-blooded male would invite a woman into his quarters and not try anything? I say we get Ronon down here and start searching every man's room on this base until we find her."

John, knowing this would be laughable in a few days, sat down on the bed and put his head into his hands. "Major," he began. "I cannot use my power and order every male on this expedition to allow me to search their quarters just because you've decided to take it upon yourself to be Jennifer's big brother."

Evan was clearly anticipating John to agree to his plan. Angry now, he whirled on John. "Sheppard, don't you care that our doctor could be a victim of every trick in the book that this guy may be trying on her to get her into his bed? I can just see it now. He planned a movie night and just wouldn't you know it... no place to sit except for the bed. He'll tell her she needs to sit close so she can see the movie on the small monitor screen and then bam.... "

Sheppard winced when he heard Jennifer cover a chuckle on the other side of the bed. It was exactly what they had been doing when Evan interrupted him.

"Uh, Lorne," he started off, pinching his eyes. "Again, I don't think Jennifer would pick someone she didn't trust. Now, why don't you put in a few more hours in the training room and try to relax. We'll talk again in the morning." Leading Lorne out of the room, John let out a frustrated breath after finally closing the door.

"So," Jen said slyly with her eyebrows raised. "Getting back to what Lorne said..."

John tried to distract her by gathering her in his arms. "Have I told you how beautiful you look today?"

Knowing full well he was trying to make her forget about what Evan said, she laughed and allowed him to kiss her. "So is he right? Was this all a ploy to..."

Laughing and knowing she was joking with him, he held her in his arms and began tickling her sides. Shrieking, she crumbled onto the floor to escape him, sending him down with her in the process.

"Hey! Don't think you can use the moves Ronon taught you to get out of this, Dr. Keller."

The movie lay forgotten as he took advantage of the situation, running his fingers through her hair and brought her lips once more to his own.

* * *

Lorne circled back to Sheppard's room shortly after leaving it. He had forgotten to tell John about the pick-up basketball game a few men had organized last minute in the gym. He figured if he couldn't convince John to find out who Jennifer was dating, he may as well see if his CO wanted to join them.

As he was about to knock, he heard laughter coming out of the room. One voice was definitely female. Frowning, he couldn't remember John saying anything about having his own date tonight, let alone that he was seeing someone.

He couldn't hear clearly enough to see if he recognized the voice. _Wait a second... _he thought. _What were the odds that both John AND Jennifer had dates tonight. It was the middle of the week. Could it be that his CO was the man Jennifer was dating? _He thought it over. It wasn't the obvious choice he would've guessed for Jennifer, but somehow it fit.

Evan couldn't be completely sure, but he began to formulate a plan to get a definite answer out of one of them in the morning.

* * *

Ronon turned the corner and entered the training room only to hear laughter. When the doors swished open, he stopped dead in his tracks. John, and who looked like Jennifer Keller, were on the practice mats laughing hysterically. Finally, John rose up on his elbows to look down at her. Jennifer wrapped her arms around his neck and brought him toward her. Not much shocked Ronon, but the sight of his close friend locking lips with the CMO sent his jaw to the floor.

Once he got over the surprise, he grinned like a fool. Walking around the perimeter, he quietly approached them. Clearing his voice, he snorted as they both scrambled onto their knees off the floor, looking to see who saw them.

John was the first to spot the hulking former runner behind them. "Seriously, Ronon? How about not taking ten years off my life next time?"

Blushing, Jennifer just stood there, unable to look Ronon in the eye. "Umm... sorry, Ronon. We thought you would be a few more minutes."

"Yeah, caught that. Glad I got to your training session early, doctor." Turning to John, he grinned. "So... something you want to tell me about, Sheppard?"

John narrowed his eyes at him. "You're a smart man, Ronon. I think you have this figured out already." Turning to Jennifer, he closed the distance between them and gave her one more lingering kiss. "Don't forget, I'll meet you for dinner after my meetings with Woolsey. Want me to swing by the infirmary when I'm done?"

Still beat read, she nodded.

Ronon waited for John to leave the room before sending Jennifer a look. "Well, Dr. Keller, aren't you one for secrets?"

* * *

The next morning in the mess hall, John sat with his team. Today they had nothing planned- no missions, no paperwork. Just a day of relaxation for them all. Surprisingly, Jennifer also had the day off. He planned to take her in a jumper to the mainland for the day, bribing the cooks for a picnic basket and the works.

He watched her sitting next to Rodney. They were in a heated debate about some sort of medical discovery his team had found last week on a mission. An empty chair sat next to her. Ronon was late arriving for breakfast. He had a few new recruits he was training this morning.

Looking up, he saw Lorne make his way over. John was a little surprised to see him more relaxed this morning, despite his visit to John's quarters last night. He took the empty seat next to Jennifer, grinned at her, and then shocked them all when he draped his arm around her.

"Uh, Lorne? What's going on?" John sat forward in his seat, wondering what the major was up to.

Lorne grabbed his bagel and began munching on it. "Well, I thought about what you said last night. But I still don't agree... so I'm going to draw this guy out of the woodwork. My plan is to hang on her all day, making the guy jealous. Then," Evan said, looking down at Jennifer. "When the guy makes a move, I'll know who it is. Good plan, huh?"

Jennifer rolled her eyes. "Evan, seriously. You really have some issues here."

John just studied the major. No, he thought. Something else was up. The man looked too happy about the situation. And he kept looking at John like he knew something. Understanding dawned a few minutes later. He knew. He must have found out somehow.

Trying to think quickly, he wasn't about to let Evan think he bested him. Making an excuse that he was going up to get more Jello, John quietly radioed Ronon to ask him for a favor. Ronon agreed and also said he would radio Jennifer, who luckily already had her transmitter on for the day. Satisfied Ronon would pull through, he made his way back to the table. He pretended to be a little preoccupied with Lorne giving so much attention to Jennifer.

When a large group of the new recruits with Ronon came into the mess hall, Jennifer pretended to stiffen. "Evan, this was funny up until now. You need to stop."

"What?" He asked innocently. "Oh, is he here yet?" Lorne eyed the men who had just came in for breakfast but darted a questioning glance back at John. He was beginning to doubt that he had the right guy. "Don't tell me you hooked up with someone new?"

Jennifer tried to scoot her chair away from him. "Seriously, Evan, he's going to kill you."

Evan, rolling his eyes, began singling out the men one by one. When his gaze passed over Ronon, he starred. Ronon looked incredibly agitated. And angry. But the worst part was that it seemed to be directed at him. Whipping his head back to Jennifer, the smile left his face.

"Jennifer, please tell me it's not Ronon." Seeing her confirmation, he gulped. In a flash, his arm was up and off her. As he stood up, the chair beneath him fell with a clatter. Ronon had reached the table and jerked the stunned major around the corner of it.

"Lorne," he growled. "Let's step outside a few minutes. We need to talk."

Not waiting for him to following, Ronon headed out. Evan, turning white, gave one last look at the table before following him out of the cafeteria.

Jennifer and John waited until Lorne was out of sight until they both burst into laughter. Rodney and Teyla just stared at the pair.

"Mind telling us what's going on?" Rodney questioned.

John's stomach hurt so much from laughing. "Long story, McKay. Just never try to mess with me. Hopefully Lorne will learn his lesson."

Figuring this was as good as time as any to announce their relationship, John leaned in to Jennifer across the table. She caught on quickly, nodded, and reached over to pull his face closer to hers. They heard the gasps from the rest of his team, including those sitting near them.

By the time they broke apart, Lorne was stomping over to their table. "Sheppard, I'm going to kill you..." Ronon followed the grumbling major, grinning over the entire situation.

"Later, Lorne. Keller and I have a date." He shot a look over at his SIC. "Unless you have any objection?."

Staying silent, Lorne just glared at them both. "Lesson learned."


End file.
